The Leaves Began to Fall >> No One spoke At All

Hello, souls. I hope you all had a lovely and restorative weekend. Mine was mostly spent at work, but I wanted to share one little bit from my weekend, plus an update on how the first part of my cleanse went.

Yesterday afternoon we headed downtown for a bit of wandering, and then I suggested we drive out to the edge of Ballard to see what there was to see. We ended up at a marina on the Sound, and the light was so pretty. Luckily I had grabbed my camera to take along. Here's my favorite picture >

This is Leif Ericson, Norse explorer. Ballard was largely home to the Scandinavian seafarers who settled here to work on the docks and out at sea, and still maintains a strong Scandinavian community. Andy and I are both of Nordic descent, and grew up in place that is heavily Scandinavian. Feels like home!

I'm such a sucker for taking pictures into the sun. I just love the way it looks.

Well, cleanse update. I did it...! Well, the first part, anyway. It was a really interesting experience. The first day I didn't mind it at all. The kitchadi is pretty tasty, it tastes just like an Indian dish which is exactly what it is. But by the end of the second day, I just did not find it appetizing. I mean, there's not much I would still find appetizing after eating it two days straight. Instead, I decided to just go without. And the next day, too. I found the process of sitting with my hunger more interesting and thought provoking than eating the kichadi, which I did not expect at all. I found that I sort of liked feeling the dull gnawing in my stomach. It was a constant, but subtle reminder of what I was choosing to do, and I found it easier to focus my thoughts.

Some random observances:

> While watching a movie the other night, there was a scene with news footage of starving children in Africa. You know, the scenes you always see of terrible starvation, bellies distended, and people made of nothing more than skin and bones, held together by the last of their spirit. Right then I wanted to punch myself.

> Our social life pretty much revolves around consuming things. I honestly could not come up with anything I wanted to do that didn't involve eating or drinking something. At night, at least. Since I work until 8pm most evenings, all I could come up with on the fly was watching things. Or board games. Anybody have any other creative ideas?

> The things I found myself craving the most were cheese and bread. I have heard that consuming these things can create addiction pathways in the brain similar to other stimulants...perhaps there is some truth to that?

I have switched to eating unprocessed vegan foods for the the remainder of my cleanse. For me, I can already tell that the biggest benefits of a project such as this have nothing to do with my physical body. Being conscious, aware, and intention-ful in my everyday life is such a gift....

I'll be sure to share my final thoughts on this week when I'm all done. Until then...

shanti >> sondra

p.s. I have been keeping up with my photos of the day, but I can't find my USB cord to upload them! I've ordered another, but until then, I'll keep snapping away to keep up with this other goal. :)

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